7 votes

In pursuit of intentionality

3 comments

  1. skybrian
    Link
    It seems to me it's less about screen time and more about finding other things you want to do. Screen-based entertainment fills up the time you don't spend elsewhere. If you don't have other stuff...

    It seems to me it's less about screen time and more about finding other things you want to do. Screen-based entertainment fills up the time you don't spend elsewhere.

    If you don't have other stuff to do, cutting back on what you enjoy isn't really going to do much.

    6 votes
  2. [2]
    box0rox
    (edited )
    Link
    I once attended a "roundtable discussion" at a local high school about high school kids "Internet" use. It ended up being a debate between an English teacher and myself. She was (still is) a...

    I once attended a "roundtable discussion" at a local high school about high school kids "Internet" use. It ended up being a debate between an English teacher and myself. She was (still is) a technophobic, low skill computer user, and came equipped with dozens of research papers that purported to prove that some ill defined Web surfing, social media, even reading books on an e-reader, causes poor grades, reduces attention span, etc etc.

    I made the comment at the time, "You have no idea what you are talking about".

    In retrospect, she wasn't entirely wrong. There are a lot of "cigarettes for the mind" out there. I suspect that most tildes users are doing their own personal rehab from addictive, low quality social media. Some stuff is just bad. But not everything: there is a huge amount of great media out there. There are different qualities of all media: just because tabloids exist, does not mean that people should stop reading.

    If you feel like your screen time is degrading you, if it's become a vice, or worse, a habit, stop that. Find something better to do. If it is improving you, great. These days, even if it just keeps you from losing your mind of boredom, that's a win.

    5 votes
    1. Whom
      Link Parent
      Yeah, I hope that as we move forward, we find ways to address the negative effects of various parts of the internet and technology in general without boiling it down to "screen bad". Even "screen...

      Yeah, I hope that as we move forward, we find ways to address the negative effects of various parts of the internet and technology in general without boiling it down to "screen bad". Even "screen time", usually a concept that's brought up to encourage people to balance their time with electronics with other things, is really lacking in nuance. So many of the most meaningful and fulfilling things in my life have happened in front of a screen. Outright telling me to cut down on that means to limit my most treasured personal relationships and artistic experiences, not to mention expression. No matter how well-intentioned, that just...won't get through.

      I think that approach from the older people in my life kept me from really examining my relationship with computers and the internet until they had already done a good bit of damage.

      That said, I think there's something to be said for cutting your phone or whatever out of your life. I went the "dumbphone" route for a while, nuked most of my accounts everywhere, and moved to low-pressure privacy-conscious or otherwise more ethical alternatives. I didn't stay with all of those things forever, but that process let me learn what I really cared about and what was just junk taking up my attention and emotional energy for no gain. I've slowly let myself use some of the sites I quit while not touching others with a 10 foot pole. I have a recent iPhone now. I continue to quit, move around, search for new healthy alternatives, and figure out where I'm comfortable. I think taking a journey like that to the best of one's ability is a really wonderful thing to do, but people don't get there by being shamed into it. They need to be approached by people who understand what a full modern digital life is like and don't blindly want to shame the beautiful parts of that life.

      It comes down to what this article says, I think: intentionality. If the things you're doing are all things you care about and you genuinely examine them and come to the conclusion they aren't hurting you, indulge in them as much as you want. The issue is, most of us don't value the things we spend a lot of our time doing. We're abused and manipulated into mindlessly scrolling through shit that doesn't really mean anything to us. That's the real evil.

      5 votes